Comment

I used this resource in my class about teaching online, in the section where we talked about various approaches to teaching, and how the "online" part can fit in with those approaches. This tutorial provides a good set of tips and advice about how to actually create a PBL environment. So much of the other information I came across was just describing what it is and why it's so great. But in my class of education majors, they need to know HOW to implement it. So that was the strength of this resource. The weaknesses included referring to the debunked idea of "multiple intelligences" and in referring to poorly performed research that "students who learn online do better than students who don't." That's not actually what the research says. (Clark's "mere vehicles" statement comes to mind.) There's nothing intrinsic about having a computer that increases learning. Rather the factors that increase learning are the same, whether a student is online or not: motivation, time spent, quality of information available, supportive environment, and so on and so forth. Anyway, soap boxes aside, this is a decent resource. It could use some updating.

Technical Remarks:

Too many "branches" in the tutorial. Make things more streamlined, and it would be easier to follow and remember where you are in the program. Some of the links opened new tabs instead of just going to the next page in the same window, and some pages lacked the navigational arrows. It's kind of buggy and could use an overhaul of otherwise solid information.

Time spent reviewing site:

one hour

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